1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to an absorbent coating and more particularly to applying said absorbent coating to fishing tackle where said absorbent coating will absorb liquid attractants and attractants on contact.
2. Description of Prior Art
It has been widely accepted that fish respond to scented attractants as well as visual stimuli. Many liquid scented attractants are currently being sold. But a constant problem has been in getting the attractant to stay on the tackle. Many attractants have had to resort to using gelling agents and other thickeners. U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,643 shows an example of a soluble fish-attractant coating. This is an example of forming cross-linked polymers to act as gelling agents. But there is no means for the gel to stay on the tackle. Oils used in this gel must be selected when the gel is made and can not be selected by the fisher person. It would be preferred to select a cross-linked polymer or co-polymer that would absorb liquid scented attractants. Liquid scented attractants would function as a plasticizer. One familiar with rubber compounds will be aware of how rubbers can absorb solvents and swell to several times their normal size.
Fishing lures have been created that have attractants blended into the material they are made of. Several examples of scented attractants incorporated into the lure material are disclosed in
U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,223 May 20, 1986 to Hastings and PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,245,420 Jan. 20, 1981 to Carr.
However, natural oils and attractants can become rancid. Packaging items that contain liquid attractants can leak and become smelly. Scented attractants have limited shelf life. With so many liquid attractants on the market it would be an advantage to make fishing tackle that would accept any liquid attractant.
Different fibers and compounds have been added to lures to allow them to absorb liquid attractants. U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,609, Oct. 16, 1994, Walker discloses an example of a fiber coating used to hold liquid scents. Coating lures and hooks with fibers and other natural absorbent material can detract from their visual appeal. Many of these coatings depend only on capillary attraction. They are very limited as to what liquids they can hold. Textures of finished products can not be changed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,026,596, to Saotome and U.S. Pat. No. 4,389,513, to Miyazaki clearly show that cross-linked polymers only bond well to porous items when the polymer is formed on an item. Another method must be found to form a strong bond that will not loosen when a plasticizer is applied.